National Geographic has developed Amish: Out of the Order (you may remember this program from late 2010, featuring ex-Amishman Mose Gingerich) into a full-fledged series.  It will air in 10 parts this spring and is named, nearly identically, Amish: Out of Order. I found the original program interesting but wonder if they’ll be able to get enough mileage out of the concept for a full series….
Conflict over the SMV safety triangle, which has seen numerous Amish sent to jail in Kentucky, has ended. Governor Steve Beshear signed Senate Bill 75 into law yesterday. Â The new law allows reflective tape to be substituted for the Slow Moving Vehicle emblem. Â Amish reaction from the APÂ story (no longer online): Atlee Miller, an Amish farmer from Franklin, said he appreciates the help from the…
“The flag is fine, but we’re the only nation that worships the flag. It’s very heathen. The kingdom we live in, we pledge our allegiance to God, not the flag.” That’s a quote from an Amishman in the PBS film “The Amish”. This struck me as I’ve never really thought about it in those terms. I know that people do object to the pledge on…
Energy extraction techniques such as directional drilling and “fracking” (short for hydraulic fracturing) have become a hot issue in both Amish and mass society. Â These techniques, some of which have been around for quite a while, have been hailed for their potential to transform the energy industry. Recent developments combining fracking with horizontal drilling have made the process much more viable, leading to the recent…
The Kentucky Amish SMV situation has seen quite a few developments this week. Â On Tuesday the KY House Transportation Committee passed Senate Bill 75 by a count of 25-1, sending it to the House for full consideration. Â This bill would allow reflective tape in lieu of the SMV triangle. Â If it passes the House, it returns to the Senate for final passage. Â The last hurdle…
Four youth of the Chautauqua County, NY Amish community were arrested for illegal alcohol possession last Sunday. Normally I don’t find the mundane “Amish behaving badly” stories all that post-worthy, but this one has been getting so much coverage I think it’s worth mentioning. Scouring the web I’ve found reactions usually land in a few categories: 1) If they weren’t Amish, this wouldn’t be a…
Even though we forget how good we’ve got it in the US, in such a car-focused culture, the road is still something like sacred space. Â The Amish intersect with mainstream society, sometimes loudly, on this space. Â Lately the big issue has been road safety and the buggy SMV triangle in Kentucky. Â But a second problem has been percolating in the Bluegrass State, having to do…
Thursday came and went, unsurprisingly, with no change in the stance of Amish in Graves County, KY over the SMV triangle. So another group of Amishmen were sent to jail yesterday (looks like 10 this time, though it’s a little unclear from reports), with sentences from 3 to 13 days. As with the Amishmen jailed last September, the men had refused to pay fines for failure to…
Rita asks: I’ve seen the comments about teens, during Rumspringa, driving cars. How do they get a permit, practice time, license and money to buy a car without the parent’s assistance? We’ve discussed Amish youth getting their first buggies, but what about cars?  First off, some Amish youth do in fact drive, and some Amish parents have no choice but to concede car driving to…
A controversy has erupted in a small New York Amish community (near Marathon in Cortland County, 1 hr S. of Syracuse) over busing of Amish schoolchildren. New York state law requires busing to be provided to private school students as well as those attending public schools. This would include the local Amish community. The issue has to do with Amish kids mixing with non-Amish children….